Hey everyone, this is just a short one shot I had the idea for the other day. Just a conversation between Rose Wilson and Raven. Enjoy and review!
Most days, especially on days like this one, Rose felt alone at Titans Tower. Not physically of course as their were over a dozen different teenagers currently in residence in the building, but in company. Not that she could really complain, of course, many of the other members of the titans drove her over the edge like that prissy wonder girl for example.
Rose looked outside the window from the towers main gym. She had been up ever since five working on her jump kicks. Now drenched in sweat and breathing heavily she noticed through her one eye a group of perhaps ten titans heading down to the beach.
Rose could identify Wonder girl followed closely by Tim Drake and Super boy leading the pack. Blue Beetle and Miss Martian were following them carrying coolers. Kid Devil was also their playing fetch with Beast Boy, literally as beast boy had morphed into a green retriever. Rose had to snort at the sight.
Rose looked onto the group almost enviously wondering why no one had thought to invite her. Then, the promptly reminded herself that she didn't care and it was probably for the best anyway because Cassie was down there. Rose finally sighed and headed back to the punching bag she had became very acquainted with the last few months ever since she transferred here after the 'death stroke' incident.
The silver haired girl threw a series of ten rapid crescent kicks onto the bag with a fury and watched as the bags momentum finally stopped it from swinging. Concluding that she had done enough for the morning, Rose left the training room and walked through the halls into the commons. She had expected that she would be alone in the large tower, as it seemed that the whole team was heading out for the day. However, for the first time in the past few months Rose was wrong as she noticed the teams empathy brewing tea in the kitchen. Rose stood incisively in the doorway for a few moments. She of all people realized how Raven preferred to be alone from her teammates. Yet Rose still had mixed feelings about the older, gothic teenager.
For one thing, Raven never seemed to have liked her. Which in of itself wasn't very telling for Raven seemed to dislike everyone on the team. Yet Raven always seemed to segregate Rose the most. Perhaps it was because of her father and she still didn't trust her. Which Rose tried to rationalize again, was actually pretty logical considering what she had done against the team when she was drugged.
And yet Rose didn't entirely trust Raven either. No matter how many times Tim Drake had tried to stress to her that she could in fact trust Raven, Rose still felt unconvinced.
So as anyone could imagine, the room didn't exactly radiate friendly energy from the two extraverted teenagers.
Raven looked up from her tea kettle to the sliding doors. In the doorframe stood Rose Wilson, looking uncomfortable. Raven fought the urge to rub her temples, the energy radiating of Rose was not healthy for her, it reminded her too much of herself. Raven turned back to her kettle was it starts to whistle and set it onto the counter. She reached into the cabinet for a drink for her and automatically get a stab of loneliness of the eye patched girl. Rose sighs automatically feeling bad from absorbing Rose's energy. She decides then to grab two cups.
She slowly pours the tea and then turns around and notices that Rose was on her way out of the room. Raven called after her without really realizing it. "Wait." She says.
Rose turned around. "What?" She asks cautiously.
Raven gestures to the other cup on the counter. "Do you want some tea?"
"What kind is it?"
"Earl Gray." Raven responds. "You don't have to have any if you don't want to."
Rose walks down the stairs and leans against the kitchen counter, "No, its fine. Thank you, Raven."
Raven simply nods, sipping her tea slowly, hoping it would clear up the headache that she had had since last night. She had partially excepted Rose to start some kind of conversation, but she too was silent adding to the tranquility. Raven had to admit the moment was... pleasant.
Rose watched the pale girl as she closed her eyes and continued to sip her tea. It seemed to physically relax her in some way as if some invisible weight was taken off her shoulders. Rose hadn't noticed much before, but Raven always had seemed to be very tense around people before, now it was as if some veil was lifted and she was allowed some small moment to relax. Rose didn't want to ruin it.
Rose finally finished her tea and looked at the cup glumly. Was it all gone?
"Do you want some more?" Raven asks not looking up.
Rose gulps, "How did you know?"
"Empathic remember?" She answers wryly.
"Oh... so you can read my mind?" Rose asks immediately starting to mentally going through all her thoughts the last few months.
"Don't stress yourself out, I can't read your mind. Just glimpses time to time. But its your emotions. When people feel their emotions are released from their souls and I have to deal with them."
This was perhaps the longest Raven had ever spoken to me before, Rose thought. "So then with Star fire?" Automatically thinking to the free spirited alien.
"Don't even get me started." Raven mutters.
Rose automatically felt bad. "I'm sorry then. Whenever I've felt angry toward you or upset it must have rubbed off on you."
"You don't have to apologize, it doesn't exactly work like that but um... thanks. Most people don't understand, even Megan who can read minds." Raven whispers softly. "Do you want me to poor you another cup?"
Rose smiles a little accepting the olive branch "Yes, please."
Raven grabs her cup and makes her way across the kitchen to the kettle where she poured the steamy beverage and returned the glass back to Rose. "So," the older girl asks hesitantly. "Why aren't you out at the beach?"
"Nobody invited me, besides I'd rather not be along with some of my teammates." Rose confessed, automatically thinking of Cassie Sand mark, who's feeling were probably neutral.
Raven just lifts an eyebrow. "now, now you know how Robin doesn't like us back talking against other titans." Rose was questioning the tone in Ravens voice, it seemed almost playful? "But, and this is a big but, sometimes they do disserve it even if they're family." She says the word 'family' oddly as if it was from another language.
Rose could relate, sometimes family totally deserved it. Just the very thought of her father made her vent and want to throw things and throw up all at the same time when she remembered what he did to her. Slade Wilson had kidnapped, brainwashed and drugged his daughter into submission for a solid year. Yet the wounds just weren't emotional, they were also physical. Most notably with the loss of her eye which she had stabbed herself when she was trying to prove herself to Slade while under his influence. "Yet you an never escape from family." Rose whispered softly thinking about all the nightmares she had the last few months. Imagining her father poking needles in her and telling her everything will be fine or when she imagined over and over the loss of her eye and how she would wake up screaming seeing darkness and then realizing that that darkness was permanent.
"Yes, you never can." Raven said softly, as if she had experience. Rose looked up.
"What do you know about family issues?" She asked like a hothead and immediately regretted it when Raven responded with a deadpan.
"My father is an intergalactic demon named Trigon who raped my mother to sire me. He wants to use me to take over the earth." Rose had a an inkling sensation that she was only getting the whole story but she really didn't want to ask.
"Sorry," She muttered looking into Ravens Tea.
"Its fine." Raven said looking outside the window to notice beast boy and victor having a very heated debate over the virtues of tofu burritos vs. burgers. Raven had a ghost of a smile on her face, this was her family now, at least here she should chose.
"Looks like we both have daddy issues." Rose finally said trying to break the silence.
Raven gave a short laugh. "I thought we had already established that."
"Hey Raven?" Rose asked.
"Yes Rose?"
"Do you want to put some of our teammates in their places?"
Ravens smile was positively demonic "I like the way you think."
...
Later Garfield had came in after a full day at the beach and plopped down in front of the coach. He was exhausted from the day at the beach, and the fight with Cyborg had really taken it out of him. He looked at the clock, It was early evening, about five and most of the other titans were still outside. But Garfield had to admit that he was pooped. He looked down at the game station and noticed that one of the controls had been moved from its usual position. Tim probably did it. He thought, Or Connor. Neither of them respected the consul like Victor or he did as each treated their entertainment device as if it was a holy relic.
It was in fact, an exclusive customized game station, but that was beyond the point.
I'm just going to do a round of Mega Monkeys Four before they all come in. He thought. He was surprised when the disk was already in the station because he could have sworn that Arkham Origins had been in there last. Yes, someone had messed with his station. He turned it on and waited as the game loaded. Finally after all the opening credits opened he came to the home page. At the top was the high scores, and like any religious gamer he checked them ritually but this time he was surprised by the results.
Daddy's little girl 145000000
Changeling 139340000
Cyborg 139290000
Boy Wonder 120000000
Who the heck is Daddy's little girl, he thought. And why are they on top of the leader board. Shocked by these less than ideal results Garfield decided to fix the wrongs against him. He spent the next two and a half hours trying desperately to put his name back in the number one spot, yet he couldn't even get near the 140,000,000's. Distraught and concluding that he could always try again tomorrow, Garfield went to turn the game off and heard a chuckle from behind him. His ears twitched and he looked behind him. He saw Raven at the kitchen table with a book and a bowl of popcorn in her lap seeming to be enjoying herself. Across the table sat Rose who was doing a Sudoku puzzle. Garfield was shocked that he didn't notice their presence before hand. Equally as disturbing was the fact that the two girls seemed to be getting along swimmingly.
"What's going on?" He finally asked.
"Nothing," Rose lied smoothly. "We were just in here because it was quiet."
Quiet? Beast Boy thought. He recalled the several cussing rants he had had in the last two hours, which by no means of the imagination could be considered quiet. "Really why are you here?"
"Maybe we just wanted to see you play videogames." Coming from Raven, this came across as extremely ironic.
"Right," Garfield said not exactly catching on.
"Yeah, you seemed really into it." Rose mused. "Were you on a really hard level?"
"NO, I was just trying to beat this high score that suddenly popped up by this Daddy's little girl character."
Raven smirked. "Do you have any idea who would pick such a ridiculous gamer name?"
"I have no idea, it might have been Megan but I have no clue." Garfield looked at the two girls suspiciously. "You wouldn't have any idea who it might be would you?"
Rose looks at the green teenager with a straight face. "I have absolutely no clue."
Garfield nodded. "Right, okay then. I guess I'll go ask Vic if this is some kind of practical joke." Garfield walked out of the room. Once the doors had closed, Rose started bursting out in laughter and Raven allowed herself a small smile.
"Daddy's little girl?" Raven finally asks. "Bit discrete isn't it?"
Rose just laughs. "Better than 'I have daddy's issues'."
"Azar sister."
Yeah, I finished. This was by far the longest one shot I have ever written. (Granted I've only wrote one before so :{) I hope you guys enjoyed and please review.
